Outside of your main company website, blogs and social media are also powerful tools for communicating with your audience and for SEO. Not only do they provide greater online visibility, but they can also help with your search rankings indirectly.
According to a HubSpot study, blogs improve your chances of ranking on a Google search by 434%. Writing one and posting it doesn’t mean you’re finished. Over time, your content can become irrelevant or outdated. Your customers may encounter new challenges as the environment, sustainability initiatives, the economy, and more change.
Here are some ways you can upcycle your older blogs that aren’t generating as much traffic as you’d like them to:
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- Remove time references
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- Add video and/or imagery
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- Add keywords
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- Try a new title
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- Restructure content to make it reader-friendly
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- Consider industry updates
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- Think about any new customer pain points
The answer to a searcher’s question in December may not be the answer in June (think stats, trends, algorithms, new products); as the industry and your business change, your blog should also change. Assess your blogs regularly, and remove or update them to boost your SEO.
Social Media Optimization (SMO)
Social media provides us with direct exposure to our audience, so it is important to use it wisely. Neil Patel’s webinar discussed that almost 40% of Gen Z use TikTok and Instagram to search, rather than Google. Just as you think about the relationship between SEO and Google search rankings, you can treat your SMO the same way.
As we scroll through social media, the most recent posts will usually show up in our feed. The posts that grab our attention and cause us to stop and engage are the images and videos covering popular topics or ones that solve a problem or answer a customer’s need.
Once 24-48 hours have passed, your post most likely will not be viewed again – but the posts that are more likely to be viewed again, possibly even 30 days later, are those covering popular topics and those containing evergreen subjects– or subjects that will remain useful and true over a longer timeframe.
When you are managing your SMO, don’t forget to backlink posts to appropriate pages on your site to drive more traffic. You know your audience may be searching your keywords on social media – if the results land on your social media page, you’ll benefit twice as much if they backlink to your website or blog.
Regardless of how busy you are with day-to-day tasks, don’t neglect your online presence and content. Take the time to assess your site and your social media to ensure that you are improving your SEO and authority with Google AI. Remember to check this at least quarterly and to always provide fresh, educational content that drives traffic and is engaging to your target audience.
